January 10, 2016

240 years ago
1776

Literature
American revolutionary leader Thomas Paine published the pamphlet Common Sense. It was originally published anonymously.

225 years ago
1791

War
The Siege of Dunlap's Station began near Cincinnati during the Northwest Indian War.

100 years ago
1916

Born on this date
Sune Bergström. Swedish biochemist. Dr. Bergström shared the 1982 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with fellow Swede Bengt Samuelsson and Sir John Vane of the United Kingdom "for their discoveries concerning prostaglandins and related biologically active substances." Dr. Bergström died on August 15, 2004 at the age of 88.

Don Metz. Canadian hockey player. Mr. Metz was a right wing with the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1939-42 and 1945-49, scoring 55 points on 20 goals and 35 assists in 172 regular season games, and 15 points on 7 goals and 8 assists in 40 playoff games. He played on five Stanley Cup championship teams, with the highlight of his career coming in the 1942 finals, when he was inserted into the lineup with the Maple Leafs trailing the Detroit Red Wings 3-0 in games. Mr. Metz scored 4 goals and 3 assists, inclusing the winning goal in game 6, as the Maple Leafs rallied for four straight wins to win the series 4-3. Mr. Metz, whose brother Nick also played with the Maple Leafs, died on November 16, 2007 at the age of 91.

War
In the Erzurum Offensive, Russian forces defeated those of the Ottoman Empire.

80 years ago
1936

Died on this date
Walter Lea, 61. Canadian politician. Mr. Lea, a Liberal, was Premier of Prince Edward Island from 1930-1931 and 1935-1936. In the 1935 provincial election, the Liberals captured all 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly--the first time that had ever happened in the British Empire. Mr. Lea was already suffering from illness during the election campaign, and he died a month before his 62nd birthday; he was succeeded as Premier by Thane Campbell.

75 years ago
1941

Died on this date
Frank Bridge, 61. U.K. composer. Mr. Bridge was a violist in string quartets who composed chamber and choral works, as well as works for piano and organ.

Joe Penner, 36. Austro-Hungarian-born U.S. comedian. Mr. Penner, born József Pintér, emigrated with his family at an early age. He was popular in vaudeville and on radio in the 1930s, known for using the catchphrase "Wanna buy a duck?" Mr. Penner was in Philadelphia starring in the stage show Yokel Boy when he died of a heart attack in his sleep.

War
Italian and German dive bombers attacked a British convoy off Sicily; the U.K. cruiser Southampton was sunk by British ships after sustaining severe damage. The Greek army captured Kleisoura Pass.

Economics and finance
The U.S.S.R. and Germany signed an agreement to run until August 1, 1942, under which Germany would receive food and raw materials in exchange for industrial equipment.

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Lend-Lease bill was introduced into both houses of the United States Congress; opposition to Lend-Lease came from Senators Hiram Johnson (Democrat--California); Patrick McCarren (Democrat--Nevada); and Robert Taft (Republican--Ohio), and Representative Hamilton Fish (Republican--New York).

Diplomacy
Kenkicki Yoshizawa, head of the Japanese trade mission in the Netherlands East Indies, said that his country had no improper designs on Dutch colonies.

James N. Rosenberg, president of the Dominican Republic Settlement Association, announced that General Rafael Trujillo was donating 50,000 acres for European refugees.

Politics and government
The Democratic Party-controlled Missouri General Assembly refused to certify the election of Forrest C. Donnell (Republican) as the state's new Governor; official results had Mr. Donnell winning the election by 3,613 votes.

The U.S. Democratic National Committee's newly-appointed treasurer R.J. Reynolds, of the North Carolina tobacco family, testified before a U.S. Senate committee probing campaign financing that he had lent $300,000 to Democratic organizations.

Protest
Federal employees in Mexico protested against dismissals and the reported government intention to reform the civil service by banning strikes.

Medicine
Drs. Edwin W. Schultz and Hubert Loring of Stanford University announced extraction of the polio virus almost free of impurities and ready for examination.

70 years ago
1946

Died on this date
László Bárdossy, 55. Prime Minister of Hungary, 1941-1942. Mr. Bárdossy, a member of the Party of Hungarian Life, held several positions before succeeding Pál Teleki as Prime Minister upon the latter's suicide on April 3, 1941. Mr. Bárdossy pursued a pro-German policy before resigning under duress in March 1942. He was arrested at the end of World Aar II and was executed by firing squad in Budapest two months after after being convicted by the People's Court of war crimes and collaboration with the Nazis.

Space
The United States Army Signal Corps successfully conducted Project Diana, bouncing radio waves off the Moon and receiving the reflected signals in 2.4 seconds.

War
Evidence against Hjalmar Schacht, Hans Frank, and Julius Streicher was summarized at the Nazi war crimes trial in Nuremberg. The diary of former Italian Foreign Minister Count Galeazzo Ciano, covering the years 1939-1943, was published after being introduced at Nuremberg as evidence against Nazi German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop.

Diplomacy
The first General Assembly of the United Nations, with 51 nations represented, opened in the Central Hall of Westminster in London, with a welcoming address by British Prime Minister Clement Attlee.





Politics and government
At the opening session of the Political Consultative Conference between Chinese Nationalist and Communist leaders, Nationalist leader Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek announced that both sides had agreed to a truce and that all parties would enjoy equal status in the future.

Defense
American soldiers based in Manila drafted a protest note to the U.S. War Department, asking explanation of the Army's mission in the Philippines and the number of troops needed.

World events
The British government announced that Dr. Otto Hahn, a German nuclear scientist captured by British troops in 1944, had been released, and was returning to Germany.

Business
Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) granted the U.S. government free use of its patents for aluminum production and the right to license them to competitors acquiring government-owned plants.

Sport
The two largest U.S. amateur sports bodies, the Amateur Athletic Union and National Collegiate Athletic Association, entered formal partnership in St. Louis, sharing Olympic selectors and agreeing for the first time to respect each other's rights, rules, and territories.

60 years ago
1956

Music
Elvis Presley and his band were at RCA Studios in Nashville, where they recorded the song Heartbreak Hotel.

50 years ago
1966

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): El Mundo (Il Mondo)--Jimmy Fontana (13th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Day Tripper--The Beatles (4th week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Five O'Clock World--The Vogues
2 Princess in Rags--Gene Pitney
3 We Can Work it Out--The Beatles
4 Satin Pillows--Bobby Vinton
5 You Didn't Have to Be So Nice--The Lovin' Spoonful
6 Yesterday Man--Chris Andrews
7 No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)--The T-Bones
8 Like a Dribblin' Fram--Race Marbles
9 The Hoochi Coochi Coo--Wes Dakus
10 A Young Girl--Noel Harrison

Singles entering the chart were Under Your Spell Again by Johnny Rivers (#23); Cryin' Time by Ray Charles (#34); Walk Hand in Hand by Gerry and the Pacemakers (#35); Tell Me Why by Elvis Presley (#36); The Men in My Little Girl's Life by Mike Douglas (#37); Little Boy (In Grown Up Clothes) by the 4 Seasons (#38); Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys (#39); and Lightnin' Strikes by Lou Christie (#40).

War
India and Pakistan signed the Tashkent (cease-fire) Declaration on Kashmir.

Politics and government
Canada's National Indian Advisory Board held its first meeting, in Ottawa.

40 years ago
1976

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): La tartaruga-- Bruno Lauzi (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (Veronica Top 40): Bohemian Rhapsody--Queen

#1 single in the U.K.: Bohemian Rhapsody--Queen (7th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Convoy--C.W. McCall

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Do You Know Where You're Going To--Diana Ross
2 Convoy--C.W. McCall
3 I Write the Songs--Barry Manilow
4 Love Rollercoaster--Ohio Players
5 Fox on the Run--Sweet
6 Fly Away--John Denver
7 You Sexy Thing--Hot Chocolate
8 I Love Music (Part 1)--O'Jays
9 Walk Away from Love--David Ruffin
10 Saturday Night--Bay City Rollers

Singles entering the chart were That's Why I Love You by Andrew Gold (#80); Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out by Bruce Springsteen (#83); Lady Bump by Penny McLean (#87); 'Til It's Time to Say Goodbye by Jonathan Cain (#88); Chain Gang Medley by Jim Croce (#89); Dream Weaver by Gary Wright (#92); I Got Over Love by Major Harris (#96); Goodnight and Goodmorning by Cecilio and Kapono (#98); and Hold Back the Night by the Trammps (#100).

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Saturday Night--Bay City Rollers
2 The Way I Want to Touch You--Captain & Tennille
3 Fly, Robin, Fly--Silver Convention
4 Sky High--Jigsaw
5 That's the Way (I Like It)--K.C. and the Sunshine Band
6 Fox on the Run--Sweet
7 Do You Know Where You're Going To--Diana Ross
8 I Write the Songs--Barry Manilow
9 Eighteen with a Bullet--Pete Wingfield
10 Nights on Broadway--Bee Gees

Singles entering the chart were Love or Leave by the Spinners (#89); Slow Ride by Foghat (#90); Let the Music Play by Barry White (#91); Easy as Pie by Billy "Crash" Craddock (#92); Sweet Thing by Rufus featuring Chaka Khan (#93); Don't Cry Joni by Conway Twitty (#94); Break Away by Art Garfunkel (#95); December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) by the Four Seasons (#96); Sweet Love by the Commodores (#97); Sweet Loving Man by Morris Albert (#98); Love Hurts by Jim Capaldi (#99); and Saving All My Love by Charity Brown (#100).

Died on this date
Howlin' Wolf, 65. U.S. musician. Howlin' Wolf, born Chester Burnett, was a Negro blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive booming voice who began performing in the 1930s, achieving success as a recording artist from the early 1950s until his death from complications after kidney surgery. His best-known song was Smokestack Lightnin' (1956).

Hockey
NHL
Super Series '76
Soviet Wings (3-1) 2 @ New York Islanders 1

Vyacheslav Anisin scored with 14 seconds remaining in the 2nd period to break a 1-1 tie as the Wings edged the Islanders at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale. All the scoring took place in the 2nd period, with Mr. Schlalimov opening the scoring with a shorthanded goal at 6:31, and Bryan Trottier scoring for New York on a powerplay at 14:59. Aleksandr Sidelnikov stopped 24 of 25 shots, while New York goalie Glenn Resch made 18 saves.

Canadian senior
Exhibition
Edmonton Oldtimers 10 @ Yellowknife Huskies 5

Former Alberta Oiler Dennis Kassian scored a goal and an assist to help the Oldtimers defeat the Huskies in the first of two games at Gerry Murphy Arena. The Oldtimers were coached by former Oiler coach Ray Kinasewich, who also played in the game. This blogger was among the large crowd in attendance.

30 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Jeanny--Falco

Died on this date
Jaroslav Seifert, 84. Czech journalist and poet. Mr. Seifert, a Communist, was awarded the 1984 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his poetry which endowed with freshness, and rich inventiveness provides a liberating image of the indomitable spirit and versatility of man."

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the index of prices paid by producers for finished goods had risen 0.4% in December, but only 1.8% for 1985 as a whole.

25 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): The Christmas No 1--Zig and Zag (5th week at #1)

Diplomacy
United Nations Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar announced that he would leave for Baghdad in a last-ditch attempt to avoid war in the Persian Gulf.

U.S.S.R. President Mikhail Gorbachev told Lithuania that it must accept Soviet central authority.

Protest
In Lithuania, supporters of the Moscow government went on strike.

Weather
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the British Meteorological Office reported that average global surface temperatures were higher in 1990 than in any year since records were first kept. The average temperature was 15.4 C in 1990. Some scientists argued that the findings provided evidence to back the theory of global warming caused by the greenhouse effect, while others argued that it could be simply the result of natural variations in global temperature.

Baseball
Three days after Pete Rose had been released from a U.S. federal prison camp after serving a five-month sentence for income tax evasion, a special committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame recommended that people on baseball’s permanently-ineligible list not be on the ballot, effectively barring Mr. Rose from consideration for membership in the Hall of Fame.

20 years ago
1996

Diplomacy
King Hussein of Jordan made his first public visit to Tel Aviv, as relations between Jordan and Israel improved.

Crime
In the Mexican state of Guerrero, four state government officials and 17 officers with the motorized police force were charged in connection with the June 1995 massacre of peasants.